He was almost there. Just a few more jumps, and he would be able to take a close look at the strange and weathered totem he'd discovered on his adventure. His heart pounded loudly in excitement at the thought of learning more, and being able to share his discovery with the world.
'Knowledge unwritten and lost to the whims of time and memory...'
Yes, this was exactly the kind of story Takua had to know. Something like that totem had to be majorly important, and must have been an equally important part of some lost civilization.
"Takua!"
The Chronicler froze, hesitating a moment before turning slowly to look at Jaller. "Oh, uh, hi Jaller." He said awkwardly, rather like a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "I thought you were going to be relaxing before the match. What gives?"
The guard sighed in exasperation. "The kolhii match is exactly why I'm here. We're gonna be late, and you're down here – where you aren't supposed to be – looking at old rocks!"
Takua blinked in surprise; had the time really flown by that quickly? "Oh, um... just gimme a moment Jaller. I'll be there soon, I've gotta see this totem and then we can leave. I won't be long!"
"You better not be long; we have a game to win and a Turaga to appease." The redhead scolded. "So hurry up and get back here already!"
"Yeah yeah, hold your rahi!" Takua called back, returning to his task and calculating his next few jumps before hurling onward toward his goal. One, two, three bounces and he was safely on the other side. Grinning with pride, he turned and waved cheekily at his 'brother'. "Hah!"
Jaller rolled his eyes, slowly – and with obvious sarcasm – applauding the blond's achievement. "Very nice... now let's go!"
Takua waved him off before scampering over to the totem, studying it with utmost curiosity and eventually picking it up. "Huh... kind of boring looking to me. Why put something this bland all the way down here?"
However, that was when the ground started to shake, catching Takua off guard and causing him to topple over, the mysteriously bland totem falling from his grasp and rolling partially into the lava. At once, the stone began to melt, crumbling even as the Chronicler made a foolhardy grab it to spare whatever he could manage. What he grasped, however, wasn't what he had expected to recover.
'Only secrets buried in the core of all fires, exposed only by the lifeblood of Mangai, will save what you cherish.'
There in Takua's hands, undamaged by the incredible heat that was so dangerously close, was a golden crown, patterned with markings the Chronicler had never seen before, with strange runes decorating the inside. But perhaps the most amazing aspect of all was the fact that it was glowing with a strange and incredible brilliance.
'Find the miraculous within the mundane.'
For several long moments, all Takua could do was stare at it, basking in a glow that simply felt right, though he had no idea why. Part of him wanted to put it on, just to see if it would fit, though he decided that doing so would be an insult to history, and as such he refrained. Instead, he stowed it in his satchel and - remembering he really needed to get a move on - quickly started off across the rocks, back towards Jaller. However, he had only made it halfway before the ground shook again, and as it did, the lava floe swelled. In mere moments, Takua was stranded, barely any room left for him to stand as the other, smaller rocks were enveloped by the lethal liquid below. Terror gripped him as the Chronicler looked up, his now sweaty face paling as his blue eyes fixed solely on his best friend. "J-Jaller?!"
Pure and utter fear stared right back at him, the other seventeen year old forced to fall back as the lava continued to rise. "T-Takua?!"
A roiling, rumbling roar overpowered all other sounds as a vast wave of molten rock peeled forth from further up the tunnel, the red hot glow distorting all vision and making the temperature rise as it crashed down the floe, straight for the stranded matoran. Takua squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the end, arms raised in a futile attempt to shield his head from the unavoidable doom that coursed ever nearer.
The sudden impact and rush that followed, however, were not the last moments of his life. There was no pain, no burning. Just a strong arm around his waist, and a hot breeze blasting around him. A strong, vaguely amused voice spoke. "Decided to go sight-seeing before the match, Chronicler? Certainly picked a bad spot for it."
Takua gasped and looked up, finding himself staring up at a well built, well tanned man clad in impressive looking armor and easily standing five or six inches taller than he was, with fiery red hair and almost as fiery pink and red eyes. "T-Toa Tahu!"
The twenty-eight year old snorted a faint laugh, carefully adjusting his weight on his lava board so they didn't fall over. "Well who else would be able to save you from something like that? Now hold on tight; this adventure is just getting started!"
It didn't take much coaxing for the seventeen year old to comply, shifting and wrapping his arms around his rescuer, barely even believing just how close he had come to actually dying. "I-I thought we were about to end it, not start a new one!"
Tahu smirked slightly as they hurtled along down the floe. "Since when do you just stop at one adventure? You came down here, so we may as well see the best part!"
"Best part?" Takua repeated, blinking a couple times before looking around in bewilderment. What in the world was the Toa planning to show him? Surely there weren't any other relics hidden away in the volcano; Mangai was more or less Tahu's playground – to use Turaga Onewa's wording – and it was common knowledge that he wasn't really that interested in history. But if it wasn't a relic... Sudden realization hit him as Takua hastily looked around again, registering the wide expanse that he and his rescuer were rocketing towards.
They were going over a lava fall.
"T-Toa Tahu?"
The guardian didn't answer, though the determined expression he held was impossible to miss.
"Toa Tahu?"
Still no answer. They were almost at the edge!
"Tahu?!"
"Hang on tight, kid!"
It was all Takua could do to not scream as they shot off the ledge, the seventeen year old clinging for dear life as he felt the rush of hot air surging up from beneath them. They were falling, down down down, straight for a veritable lake of molten rock. Suddenly, two great plumes of fire burst forth from Tahu's hands, strongly enough that it slowed their descent, eventually even causing them to rise back up toward the top of the falls. "Hey Chronicler!" Tahu remarked almost smugly. "What do you think of the volcano now?"
"T-terrifying!" The teenager yelped. "I wanna go back!"
Tahu laughed as he nodded, jetting them toward a pathway near the lava. "Figured that would be the case. Aren't you glad I showed up to save you?"
Takua rather wanted to argue that he could've lived without the extra adventure, but merely chose to nod his head. After all, the Toa Nuva had technically saved his life.
He just hoped it wouldn't happen again.
^v^v^v^v^v^
Several minutes later found Takua, Jaller, and Tahu, leaving the volcano's tunnels, Pewku scurrying along behind and happily chattering her excitement over the whole ordeal. Takua was less enthusiastic about the matter; he could have gotten himself killed, or even gotten Jaller killed. Not only that, but he had been questioned by Tahu and Jaller the whole way out about the strange crown he had discovered, not to mention – by his best friend at least – just how insane he really was. By the time they were even outside and on their way back to town, Takua almost wanted to be alone so he could sort his thoughts out.
"Don't forget to take that crown to the Turaga." Tahu commented as they entered Ta-Koro. "Turaga Vakama will want to see it, I'm sure." A pause, and then the Toa smirked. "After you win the kolhii match; I'm not going to let anyone get away with betting on the wrong team."
Takua blinked as he scampered hastily towards the kolhii ring, Jaller right beside him. "People are taking bets?" He asked tentatively. "Seriously?"
Jaller raised an eyebrow at him. "You thought they wouldn't? This is the biggest kolhii match we've ever had; of course people are going to be making bets. Which is even more reason for us to win this."
"Oh... do you think Toa Tahu made any bets?"
Jaller grinned, pushing open the door to the team locker he and Takua would be using. "Probably. You know how he is; talks a good game and gets himself into bad situations because he's so sure he's going to win."
"That is true." Takua replied, laughing a little as he quickly set about getting ready for the match. "He's kinda quick to boast, especially now that the island is so peaceful. Will he ever learn?"
Jaller shrugged as he changed into his team uniform. "Only if something big happens, but that's really unlikely. We've had peace for so long I doubt anything massive is ever going to happen again."
Something about those words made Takua shudder, his mind wandering back to a week ago, back to his encounter with the mysterious and shadowy figure. If any of the commentary had been accurate – which so far had turned out true – things were going to be extremely dangerous, and very quickly. "Yeah, um, about that..."
Before the Chronicler could say more, however, the voice of an announcer rang out through the building. Jaller grinned. "This is it, Takua! Let's do this!" Pink eyes glittered with excitement, the guard's every fiber practically vibrating with energy and determination.
"For Ta-Koro!"
